Marriage and Kinship
This is an article describing the legal and cultural aspects of marriage and kinship in Skyport (and other areas). Much of this is still open for debate. You are welcome to add things or veto things if they don't fit for you. This is all just open, collaborative world-building. DISCLAIMER: I am bad at world-building and have no goddamn clue if any of this makes any sense. --Coyote Marriage and Kinship in Skyport Cultural and Social Traditions Skyport is a hodge-podge of many different cultures and people. Whatever you do, it's probably fine. Heterosexual monogamy is the norm, but same-sex relationships and polyamorous relationships exist without discrimination. Marriage Marriage is a strong social and cultural tradition in Skyport, just like in the real world. However, because of the wide variety of different marriage traditions in Skyport, the government has simply chosen not to be involved. In the real world, legal marriage has tangible benefits. You can be on someone's insurance, you get their property if you die, your money is legally considered their money, etc, etc. In Skyport, however, marriage has no legal benefit. Kinship Instead of legal marriage, Skyport has a more general concept called 'legal kinship.' Someone who is kin to you is considered your legal family. Kin can either be your blood family (brothers, sisters, children, parents) or people you have legally assigned your kin. You may legally assign anyone your kin that you so desire. You simply have to fill out a form to let the local government know. If someone is kin to you, they get a cut of your possessions if you die. Or if you're in a coma, they can decide what to do with you; that kind of thing. There is no distinction between children, siblings, parents, or romantic partners. You are either legally kin or you are not. For example, if Hansel made Roddy his kin and Mishka his kin, Roddy and Mishka would both be on the same level from a legal standpoint. They would have equal stake in Hansel's possessions if he died. (A note: Hansel's parents and brother would also be considered his legal kin unless Hansel specifically disinherited them.) Uncles, aunts, and cousins are something called "half-kin." They have half as much stake as full kin. You can assign someone half-kinship if you so desire. You can have as many kin as you want. Kinship is considered individual. For example, if Hansel makes Mishka his kin and Roddy his kin, then Roddy and Mishka are not considered kin unless they legally assign each other so. You can also make a will to assign someone specific benefits if you die. Property is not shared between kin in Skyport. However, you can legally share specific assets if you so desire-- like houses, businesses, bank accounts, etc. LINA'S ADDED COMMENTARY (Someone needs to rephrase this into article-speak) I'm no sociologist or anthropologist, this is just kind of my nerd opinion. the type of kinship tie that seems to be most important to humans in general is parent-child, because that's how the species propagates. humans are of course prone to romantic pair bonds, but when it comes to legally recognizing those sorts of relationships, usually it's for the reasons of having and raising children, and carrying on the family line and property. (conservatives have co-opted this fact to argue against same-sex marriage, but that argument falls flat when you consider that humans can and do adopt children. adoption is an extremely common phenomenon because, again, that parent-child relationship is so important for many reasons. so, although it's not common in the real world historically speaking, it's reasonable to have a culture where same-sex marriage is recognized because same-sex marriages can still produce children.) the property and asset problems that arise if polygamy is legal can be completely avoided by just having property passed down to children upon death. to me, what makes the most sense, if the government doesn't want to mess with marriage laws, is if the law is simply that your children get your possessions when you die, not your intimate partner. if there's multiple children, that varies by culture; usually everything goes to the oldest (and sometimes oldest son, more specifically), but there are cases where it's split evenly among all the kids. so, legal adoption of children being recognized, but not legal marriage, is really the simplest solution. people would likely get creative with that, though, and "adopt" their partners or friends if they don't have kids. then the question of how the government feels about that sort of cheating the system arises. you might have judges who are like "FUCK YOU THAT'S NOT YOUR KID" and some who are like "whatever man, I just want to leave by 5 today, take your wife-mom's money" holy shit that was long Alabaster In Alabaster, marriage is a legally recognized institution. However, only elf/elf marriage is recognized. Other species do not have legal marriage rights in Alabaster. High elves from Alabaster are often some form of asexual or aromantic. Marriage is considered typically as a thing for political gain, for the production of children, or for social status reasons. Polyamorous relationships are taboo. High elves in Alabaster do not care if other species have inter-species relationships (like, for example, they do not care if a dwarf and a tiefling marry). It simply isn't legally recognized. Again: the only legal form of marriage in Alabaster is elf/elf marriage. All elves who have relationships with other species are discriminated again. Orcs and half-orcs in particular are loathed. Wood Elf Tribes In the forest outside Skyport, there are a small handful of hidden wood elf tribes. Wood elf tribes typically practice open polyamory. Monogamy is not taboo; simply uncommon. Children are raised by the tribe as a whole. It's common for children to not know which elf is their father. Thus, as a result, children typically take their mother's last name and trace their lineage through their mothers. Marriage takes place between individuals, but individuals often have multiple spouses. It is a social and cultural tradition. Sometimes wood elves will form closed "families" where 3-4 "spouses" are all considered married. They often have different assigned roles: home-maker, hunter, child-bearer, etc. Wood elf tribes often adopt members of other species, particularly half-elves, half-orcs, halflings, and humans from the surrounding area. As a result, inter-species relationships are common and are considered fine. Dwarves??? No fuckin' clue, man. Category:House Content